That Lovely Singing Voice
by Hawki
Summary: Boomverse Oneshot: When Tails had said that Sonic had a lovely singing voice, he'd been telling the truth...sort of.


**That Lovely Singing Voice**

"Bill…bill…coupon…bill…overdue library books…bill…"

It was a typical day for mail on Bygone Island, in that the mail you didn't want always arrived, and the mail you did want took for ages to get there. It was a status quo that Tails was well used to, though the lack of today's newspaper was a bit unusual. So as he headed back inside his house-

"Hey buddy."

He stopped. Because seeing Sonic reading the _Bygone Times _(strangely, the paper only reported on recent events) was a status quo that wasn't a status quo at all.

"Hey."

In fact, it was more of a rarity. And given how the hedgehog raised an eyebrow, sprawled out on the couch, he seemed to be aware of how divergent this really was.

"What?" he asked. "I can read. I'm not Knuckles you know."

"Yeah, but, the paper?" Tails asked, putting his mail down. "Don't you usually say, 'I don't read the news, I make the news?'"

Sonic shrugged and continued reading.

"And why are you in my house anyway?"

"You get the paper delivered."

"Oh. I was wondering why it wasn't in the…wait. You couldn't buy your own?"

"I'm not wasting my power rings on dead trees," Sonic murmured. He skimmed through the pages. "Economics, sports…politics…more politics…"

"Looking for something in particular?"

"Oh yeah," Sonic said. "Stuff on yesterday's trial."

"Oh," Tails said. "That."

The trial. The trial that had him as a witness, Eggman as a victim, Knuckles as a defence attorney, and a dance party. And even the dance party had been insane – for some reason, no-one liked his Do the Robot impression.

"Y'know, that reminds me," Sonic said, looking up at the fox as he turned the next page. "What did you mean when you said I had a lovely singing voice?"

"Huh? I didn't-"

"Here, let me quote," said Sonic. He cleared his throat. "He's fast, he's cunning, he can destroy any opponent with a single spin dash." The hedgehog smirked. "Heh, liked that one."

"Well, yeah, I did say that-"

"And he's got a lovely singing voice." Sonic closed the paper. "Not sure about that one bro. I mean, I'm all for compliments, but-"

"Come on Sonic, you've sung," Tails protested. "Remember Karaoke Night at Amy's?"

"You mean when Sticks smashed the jukebox because it was sending secret mind control rays into her brain?"

"Um…yeah," Tails said. "That night." He smirked. "Well, when you were singing like a dying cat, you-"

"Aha!" Sonic exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "So I _don't _have a lovely singing voice!"

_Uh-oh._

"So come on Tails," he said. "Spill the beans! Is it perjury? Or am I just that cool that I warp your sense of reality?"

_He's lost it, _the fox thought. _He's really lost it._

Or he was just bored. That was by far the more likely answer.

_So do I tell him? _Tails wondered.

"Come on Tails, spill it out."

_Yeah. Okay._

"Fine," Tails said. "Follow me."

##

"I call it the IDV. Or inter-dimensional viewer."

"Huh," Sonic said. "Y'know, I think that needs to be a bit longer to warrant an acronym. And a bit bigger as well."

Tails frowned – he was showing Sonic his latest creation. To the untrained eye (a.k.a. every eye on this island unless Eggman showed up), it looked like a TV. One of those old analogue TV's that Sticks still used, considering that digital was the work of the Illuminati or somesuch. But to the trained eye (a.k.a. his own), it was a means of viewing alternate realities. Of different Tails's. Different Eggmen.

"And different Sonics," the fox explained. He hit the **replay **button. "So, for instance, take this Sonic. He lives in zone SatAM."

"Zone SatAM?"

"Yeah, SatAM. I discovered it last Saturday morning."

The pair watched the scene unfold. One that showed a hedgehog. A blue hedgehog that was-

"Is that me?" Sonic asked.

"Yep," Tails exclaimed. "Your dimensional counterpart."

"Ugh. He's so short. And he's got no fashion sense at all."

Well, that was true, Tails supposed. It seemed the Sonic of his universe was the only one that ever wore anything besides sneakers.

But this Sonic, he was currently playing a guitar in front of a purple walrus. One singing some kind of rock song about someone called Sally. And he had to admit-

"Who the heck is Sally?" the Sonic beside him asked. "Where's Amy?"

Tails shrugged. "I dunno. Does it matter?"

"No, course not," said his Sonic quickly. "Course it doesn't."

The song continued, and Tails listened. It was loud. It was boastful. But he had to admit, pretty good.

"See?" Tails asked. "Nice singing voice."

"Nice singing voice?" Sonic asked. "That was trash! I mean, singing about…well…y'know…"

"Okay then," Tails said, adjusting the dial. "How about this? The Underground Universe."

"Why underground?"

The scene changed to three hedgehogs this time. One blue, one green, one lavender. All playing in what looked like an underground tunnel to a cheering crowd.

"That's why."

The band sang. Something about Robotnik (or Robuttnik, it was hard to hear) and about them being the Sonic Underground. Tails supposed it was this universe's equivalent of Team Sonic. And-

"Is that Amy?" Sonic asked, pointing at the female hedgehog.

"Nah, she's Sonia," Tails said. "And she's also your sister."

"Oh," Sonic said.

"Why?"

"Nothing," he said.

"That wouldn't have to do with Chao in Space would it? The point in the third film where Hero Chao realizes that Princess Chao is actually his sister, and that he kissed her in the first movie, and-"

Sonic shut the machine off. And Tails smiled.

"You see?" the fox asked. "Lovely singing voices. It's the universal constant."

"Yeah," Sonic murmured.

"So how about it then?" Tails asked. "Where's your singing voice? Or maybe…maybe you're not the real Sonic! Maybe the real Sonic of this dimension is lost in another reality, singing his heart out, proving once and for all that…"

Sonic glared at him.

"That Sonic's the fastest thing in all dimensions?"

"That's better," the hedgehog said. He smirked. "Later bro."

And he zoomed out.


End file.
